Don”t miss the BOAT

Published: 09:04AM May 16th, 2012By: Tony Hoyland

Visitors to the Devon County Showground this weekend (May 17-19) will get the chance to see students from Bicton College in action completing their latest restoration for the BOAT (Bicton Overseas Agricultural Trust) Charity.

Chris Jaworski, Lecturer Bicton College on the BOAT restoration tractor before the rebuild.

The rebuild of the tractor, a Ford 3000, is using over £4000 of parts donated by Vapormatic, in preparation for the tractor being the star prize of BOAT’s 2012 prize draw raffle.

“The Ford 3000 remains a popular tractor to this day, with many still in use on farms around the country”, said Bill Vellacott, BOAT charity spokesman. “It’s a fantastic first prize for our annual raffle (tickets only £1 each) and should prove to be a real crowd draw at agricultural shows and events around the country”.

The charity has been working with Bicton College and Vapormatic for over 10 years to conduct an annual tractor rebuild, which helps in raising funds to support local agricultural education in developing countries such as, Tanzania, Gambia, Kenya and others.

“This is the 10th BOAT tractor rebuild and Vapormatic has been proud to donate parts for all of them and promote the cause. This charity truly makes a difference to the people and communities they support,” says Peter Brennan, Managing Director of Vapormatic.

Bill Vellacott added: “We hope to raise over £20,000 this year to allow us to ‘train more trainers’, bringing educational leaders from developing nations to the UK to show them the latest agricultural and business methods. This knowledge can then be passed on in the classrooms and farms of their home countries. We thank Bicton College and our sponsors for their tremendous support, in particular Vapormatic and Firestone Tyres.”